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Letters To Jan
Kate Varness Interview Part 2: Out of the Box Organization Questions
This week, Professional Organizer & Life Coach Kate Varness answers your questions from Facebook! Hope you enjoyed her time mangement tips interview last week.
You can ask Kate questions on her Facebook ~ or, if you're a NAPO member, you can meet her at this week's NAPO Conference in Baltimore.
Question #1: Dear Kate, To-Do Lists make me feel so exhausted/overwhelmed. Is there any other way to organize your projects?
1) When you wake up think of 3 things that must be accomplished that day to move a project forward or to do the whole project. These may be individual steps or multi-step tasks.
For example, today I will: 1) wash, dry, and put away my own laundry; 2) stop at the post office to mail a package I have prepared; 3) get my receipts for reimbursement in to my boss because today is the deadline. This last one is multi-step in that I need to locate the receipts, fill out the form, and scan the documents to submit electronically. The deadline has brought this last one up to high priority.
The second goal for the day represents the final step in a project that I have spaced out over several days. The first goal is something that is an ongoing chore that needs to get done. Figuring these out makes it really clear in the front of my mind what needs to be done.
2) Rather than wait until morning to set your day's top 3-5 priorities, decide on them the night before. Take a dry erase marker and write the to-dos on your bathroom mirror after you have brushed your teeth for the night. In the morning your goals will be right before your eyes!
3) Keep a notebook with you at all times and have the projects written out one per page. List each step for each project to keep all to-dos on your radar. Use different color highlighters to mark what you will do on Monday (yellow), Tuesday (pink), Wednesday (orange), Thursday (green), Friday (blue), and the weekend (red). Check things off as you go so you will see your progress and next steps.
Encourage yourself by writing a couple of things you have already accomplished so you can cross them off right away.
Question #2: Dear Kate, We try keeping everything by the door (bags, shoes, coats, keys) so it's easy to find when we leave ~ but now our small entrance area is a disaster zone. What's essential to keep by the door?
Keep those items by the door that will help you launch into your day, like bags, shoes, coats and keys. When you have a small space it is crucial to maximize vertical space with hooks and shelves going up the wall.
Don't bother with a fancy shoe storage seat. You won't take the time to open the lid. Instead use a laundry basket to corral shoes, use hooks on the back of the door or on the wall for coats, and a shelf on which to set your workbag and a bowl for keys or to temporarily handle those misc. items that are in your pockets.
Reserve the door handle for bagged items that need to be handled such as library books to return, dry cleaning to drop off, and purchases to take back to the store.
Make sure to account for the time it will take to do those errands. If it normally takes 15 minutes to get to work and you intend to drop the library books off, don't just leave at the usual time. Instead build in that extra task time by leaving earlier!
Thank you Kate! Have a wonderful week at the NAPO Conference!
Take the Time Awareness Challenge! by Kate Varness of Greenlight Organizing
Take the Time Awareness Challenge
by Life Coaching / Professional Organizer Kate Varness, CPO-CD, MA
The song “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” needs to be changed to “Timers are a Girl’s Best Friend!” One of the biggest challenges for people with ADHD is developing time awareness. Time awareness means matching how long you think something will take with the time it actually takes.
We often overestimate how long things we hate doing will take (dishes, laundry, filing) and underestimate how long things we enjoy doing will take (exploring Pinterest, connecting on Facebook). If your time awareness is low, it leads to chronic lateness, procrastination, feeling bad about yourself, and being out of balance.
The Time Timer is unique because it enables you to see the passing of time as well as hear when time is up. As a busy mom who hates routine household chores, I can tell you that timers are what get me from overwhelmed to done!
If I have been too busy to tackle dishes as they come and am faced with a dirty dish mountain at the end of the day, I set my Time Timer with the sound signal option for 20 minutes. More often than not I glance back at the timer and see I still have time left, or I hear the beep beep and realize that I am so close to done that I am motivated to finish.
How accurate is your time awareness? I have two challenges for you.
Challenge #1:
1. Make a list of tasks you hate doing.
2. Next to each task jot down how long you think it will take.
3. Pick two things on the list to “test” this week.
4. Set your Time Timer with your estimated time, then compare the estimated vs. actual time.
· What surprises you about the results?
· Was it easier or harder than you expected?
· How does using the Time Timer change things?
Challenge #2
1. Make a list of activities you love doing.
2. Next to each task jot down how long you think the activity will take.
3. Pick one activity on the list to “test” this week.
4. Set your Time Timer with your estimated time, then compare the estimated vs. actual time.
· Did things go as you expected?
· What was different?
· How would using the Time Timer help you to keep your time more balanced?
Once you realize the value of developing your time awareness, you will begin to use your Time Timer to keep focused on both beloved and despised activities. You can get a lot done in 20 minutes. Take my Time Timer challenge and find out. Then you too will be singing “Timers are a Girl’s Best Friend” while you get those dishes sparkling clean.
Kate Varness, CPO-CD, MA
Certified Professional Organizer specializing in Chronic Disorganization
Organizer - Speaker - Life Coach
Green Light Organizing
"Helping you navigate the busy road of life."
More information at www.greenlightorganizing.com
Or call (309) 251-2646
Autism and the Christmas Connection by Jennifer Krumins
Happy Holidays to our friends around the world!
Because so many Time Timer fans have children with Autism, we're delighted to bring you this blog by Canadian author and Autism Aspirations founder Jennifer Krumins. Jennifer has written several books, including "Autism and the Grandparent Connection," to help families navigate ASD. Look for her @ Autism Aspirations on Facebook.
Autism and the Christmas Connection
by Jennifer Krumins, Autism Aspirations
T'is the season to be jolly... right? I hope so. For many of us in the Autism community, whether we celebrate Christmas or not, the Christmas season may be a time of increased stress and anxiety. This is the time of year when we find the malls, the music, the running here and there to be too much.
How much more difficult would it be if you did not have the ability to cope with the loud music, strong smells, jostling of people, the decorations changing your school, home and familiar places? That's the reality for our children.
Tonight, months of shopping, cleaning, decorating, visiting and shaking up our schedules will bring us to Christmas Eve. I know many families in the Autism community here in Toronto with special Christmas Eve traditions (even the families who celebrate other winter holidays). We're all longtime Time Timer fans. I have what must be one of the first Time Timers ever made!
Here's how your Time Timer can help you and your children with Autism enjoy the next two hectic days.
#1 HOW MUCH LONGER?
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day can be a flurry of new activity. Even the most high-functioning child with Autism can become easily overwhelmed. It's a lot of hurry up and wait ~ hurry to Grandma's, wait to open presents, hurry up and take a bath, wait while we cook that extra long dinner, etc.
Discuss with your family the maximum amount of time that your child can wait. Set your Time Timer. Follow through: when the timer is up, the child can start eating / opening presents / etc even if everything isn't perfectly ready yet.
Having a time frame for waiting makes it easier to endure – for everyone! And it'll help the extended family give your child some extra Christmas love by settling into his/her schedule.
#2 SHOW ~ Don't Tell!
For many people with Autism, a picture is worth a thousand words! Your whole family can use the Time Timer to easily interact with your child, showing him/her:
- How long will we be at the church service, party or dinner table?
- How many minutes until we open gifts?
- When will the cookies be baked? Dinner made?
- How long will we play this game? Read this story?
- How fast can everyone get in their pyjamas and into bed?
This helps your relatives, who may be a little shy or uncertain about Autism, begin communicating with your child in a visual way.
#3 THE GIFT OF TIME
Time Timers offer a visual reminder that while your child's comforting routine may be thrown off, time is still preditable. 20 minutes is always 20 minutes. That realization can be powerful. When the upteenth camera flash hits his eyes on Christmas Day, or the third great-grandmother offers her a smothering hug, that's the perfect time for your child to glance at the Time Timer and realize that it's only been 5 minutes. They're handling it. They're growing stronger and more in control of their time. They're OK. Time is predictable when life is not. At this special time of year, that understanding can be the sweetest gift your child receives.
Happy New Year to all,
Jennifer Krumins and family
Autism Aspirations
Jennifer Krumins is a full-time teacher in Ontario with 22 years experience in special education and the regular classroom. A mother of three (one of whom has Autism), she is currently a special education resource teacher in a classroom for children severly affected by Autism. Jennifer has written three books, including Been There, Done That: Finally Getting It Right, A Guide to Educational Planning for Students with Autism; and One Step at a Time: ABA and Autism in the Classroom ~ Practical Strategies for Implementing Applied Behavior Analysis for Students with Autism. Her latest book is Autism and the Grandparent Connection: Practical Ways to Understand and Help your Grandchild with Autism.
